The Visit
by damnitjane
Summary: Pike makes a surprise visit to the FBI, and encounters Jane. Pike inquires about Lisbon breaking things off. Based on promo picture.


He was half-way through the FBI bullpen when he caught hold of her name being spoken. Although he couldn't see anyone at first, he knew that voice anywhere. The difference was that it was no longer velveteen soft, but instead sounded tired and irritated. He stiffened a moment, his back arching in so that his chest puffed out and his shoulders squared. He didn't think he'd ever hear from him again let alone see him. Whatever he was here for, it wasn't to say hello to his favorite consultant, that was for sure.

"She's not here," Jane told him, walking forward so that he was in view. "She went out to teach the new recruit the ropes. What do you want, Pike?"

He knew he didn't have any right to be angry or rude to this man, but he couldn't help it. Natural reactions bubbled out of him in waves as he watched Marcus Pike turn around and eye him with dislike. Marcus Pike looked like hell. His face had grown taught in the weeks since Jane had seen him, and he had let his facial hair grown haphazardly across his skin in unkempt tendrils. The man looked as if he hadn't had a good night sleep since... well, since Lisbon broke it off.

"Jane," Pike slithered after a moment of assessment. He crossed his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes. "I guess congratulations are in order," he added nastily.

"She wasn't a prize in a contest, Marcus," Jane told him, putting his hands in his pockets and lifting his chin in heavy defiance. "It was her choice. I gave her whatever route she wanted to take. I would have let her go."

Marcus chuckled. "Oh, yes. I'm sure you would have."

Jane took a step forward and narrowed his eyes at Pike. "Is there a reason you came here, Pike?"

Pike uncrossed his arms and rubbed his beard with his palm. He leaned back on Lisbon's desk behind him and crossed his ankles. He sighed and placed both hands on either side of him on her desk and hung his head before lifting it and meeting Jane's gaze.

"I came to ask her if she's truly happy," he told Jane. "She told me that I was nice and kind and deserve better, and that she loved you," he nodded his head at Jane, "and that it was her."

"Hmm," Jane mumbled. "I read people very well, Marcus. That's not all you came here for, is it?"

Marcus pursed his lips and tilted his head. Lisbon had told him before that Jane wasn't psychic, but there were times, like now, that he wasn't so sure. Pike lifted a finger in the air between them and wiggled it back and forth.

"No, no. You're right. It isn't. I need to know why you decided to wait until she was leaving to tell her you loved her," he admitted. "Why did you let her continue to believe you were okay with what we had?"

Jane shook his head. "Because she seemed happy. How can you admit something to someone when you can't even admit it to yourself, first?"

"..._seemed_ happy?" Pike repeated with infliction. "Isn't that leading her on in the opposite direction?"

"Yes," Jane told him without elaborating. "Listen, I'm sorry for what happened between you, but I'm not sorry for falling in love with her. And, truth be told, I am not sorry she got off the plane. I love her. It would be a lie if I said I wasn't glad she didn't go."

"Funny, she told me nearly the same thing on the phone that night," he replied, his voice softer now. "She told me that she didn't want to break my heart but that she couldn't come to D.C. or marry me because she loved someone else. She didn't tell me who at first, but I already knew it deep inside. I'd seen the way you looked at each other when I came around here."

"I'm sorry," Jane told him. "Really."

"Her happiness is what is important to me. I can move on from this, but I had to know if she was really happy... if this is what she wanted."

"Well, I can't speak for her," Jane told him, looking Pike in the eye. "But I know _I _am happy and this is what _I_ want."

Pike looked at him for a long minute before standing up straight. "Kind of selfish, don't you think?"

"Maybe," Jane replied. "She's not here to tell you how she feels, but I gather from everything she's doing just fine."

"So she's happy? This is what she wants?"

Jane shrugged and nodded slightly. "She didn't mean to break your heart, Marcus. Teresa isn't that kind of person. She didn't want to do anything about her feelings for me until she talked to you."

"She's a good person that way," he told Jane. "I have a flight back in an hour. I just wanted to talk to her, but you answered my questions, I guess."

Jane watched him slide past him and walk toward the elevators. Pike stopped, turned back, and narrowed his eyes once more at Jane.

"Take care of her, Jane. Make her happy, okay?"

"I will," he told Pike. "I promise you that."

"Good. She deserves it. Tell her I came to see her."

Jane nodded as he watched Marcus turn back toward the elevators and get in an open one. As the doors closed on Marcus Pike and the chapter between Lisbon and him, Jane felt a small sense of guilt. Not guilt for loving Lisbon, but guilt in waiting so long to tell her that it left Pike with false hope.

He also knew there was no way he would tell her Pike came to talk with her. That was her past, and he suspected that she wanted to move forward. The last fleeting thought was of how happy Lisbon actually was. She was almost different, yet the same woman he fell in love with. He was glad it was him sharing it. Sharing her life. Sharing her love.

He smiled as his phone rang. He knew it was her before he picked it up.

"Hi, love," he whispered. "I was just thinking about you."


End file.
